My Apps: Customizing the dashboard

This article provides a brief overview of how to customize the My Apps dashboard, a centralized portal for accessing University of Arkansas applications and services. It covers the process of personalizing the dashboard by rearranging, adding, removing, and grouping apps into collections for easier access. The content is intended for faculty, staff, and students, helping each group tailor their workspace to fit their specific needs.

Audience: Students, Faculty, Staff

Responsible Group: IT Training and Outreach

Overview

The My Apps dashboard is a centralized portal that provides quick access to University of Arkansas applications and services. Faculty, staff, and students can personalize their dashboard to streamline workflows, prioritize frequently used apps, and improve overall productivity.

Key features

• Rearrange Tiles: Drag and drop app tiles to organize them in your preferred order. They will stay in this order until you reset them.
• Remove Apps: Hide unused apps to reduce clutter.
• Search Bar: Quickly locate apps by name.
• Add Apps or Sites: Click the “Add Apps” button at the top right of the screen to add additional apps or websites to your portal
• Create Collections: Group related apps into custom collections (e.g., “Teaching Tools” or “Student Services”) for easier access to categorized apps. Each collection has it’s own settings menu for customization.
• Customize View: Adjust whether you want your apps and sites to appear in grid view or list view
• Reset to Default: Don’t worry if you accidentally move or remove an app. The whole My Apps dashboard can be reset to the default.

Caption: Image of screenshot of My Apps Dashboard that has been customized with app rearrangement and added links.

Suggestions for creating collections

Faculty

Faculty members often use a mix of instructional tools, communication platforms, and research apps. Collections can help streamline access during class prep or teaching. Example Collections:

• Teaching Tools: Blackboard, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Kaltura
• Research & Collaboration: OneDrive, SharePoint, Office 365, Box
• Performance Evaluation: SharePoint, Faculty Information System (FIS)

Staff

Staff members can group administrative, HR, and productivity apps to simplify daily workflows. 
Example Collections:

• Admin Tools: Workday, Outlook, Microsoft Forms, Teams
• HR & Finance: Workday Student, TimeClock Plus, RazorTemps

Students

Students can organize academic, communication, and campus life apps for quick access.
Example Collections:

• Class Essentials: Blackboard, Outlook, Microsoft Word, OneDrive, Reading Coach, Wordpress Portfolio, Zoom
• Campus Life: Hog Sync, Myhealth (Pat Walker Health Center), add the Pasio app (Transit), or add the Dine on Campus site.
• Career Planning: Handshake, MyMajors

Access

You can access the My Apps portal  from any web browser such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Apple Safari. Be sure to log in using your @uark.edu email address.

1. Go to myapps.microsoft.com
2. Sign in with your @uark.edu credentials.
3. Click on any app icon listed to gain app access. NOTE: Some apps that you may not have access to are listed, you may request access by creating an IT Help Desk ticket.

Desktop shortcut 

After signing in with your work or school account, you'll see a personalized dashboard of all the apps assigned to you by the university. To make access even easier, you can add a shortcut to the portal that can be added to your computer’s desktop:

• In Chrome, go to the site, use the three-dot menu > Save and share > Create shortcut, then name it and choose whether to open it in a window 
• In Edge, navigate to the site, click the three-dot menu > Apps > Install this site as an app, then manage it via edge://apps to pin it or create a desktop shortcut 
• In Firefox, drag the padlock icon from the address bar to your desktop to create a shortcut 
• On Safari Mac, navigate to the site then use the file menu or keyboard shortcut Command + D to save it as a bookmark or add to your Favorites Bar for quick access 

Training

• Microsoft Learn: My Apps Portal Overview
• Microsoft Support: Customize app collections in the My Apps Portal

Need help?

• Submit a UARK IT Help ticket for access issues. 
• Submit an IT training request for personalized support from the IT Training and Outreach team.

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